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Saturday, September 26, 2009

Pattyn von Statten has been questioning a lot of things in her life lately: her religion, her parents' belief of a women's role in life, love. But these questions lead to her abusive father's anger, and when Pattyn begins to test her father beyond what he can handle, he sends her to her Aunt Jeanette's ranch in Nevada as punishment. But to Pattyn, the summer away is redemption. She finds freedom, love, and happiness. She finds her first love. But with fall comes her expected return home, and despite all of the wonderful things Pattyn has discovered, the pain and oppression of the past don't disappear.

I've read enough of Ellen Hopkins' novels to know that her books are powerful, brutally honest portrayals of teens stuck in tough spots in life, but yet this book managed to amaze me nonetheless. Pattyn is a character everyone can relate to; she's inquisitive and vulnerable, and what she wants most out of life is love and acceptance. Unfortunately for her, her family life is a complete disaster, and the abuse her family endures is often hidden or excused by their twisted religious beliefs. But despite these harsh and tragic elements, Burned also contains one of the sweetest love stories as Pattyn finds rare true love and learns what it means to be happy despite the confusing jumble of emotions she experiences. However, the happiness can't last forever, and when she's forced to return home, the following events will shock readers. The novel is wonderfully and scarily realistic, right down to the very end, and Hopkins' sophisticated and gripping poetry is perfect for the story. Burned is one book that will make you think long and hard.

Cover Comments: This cover keeps in with the theme of Hopkins' previous novels, and I like how the title looks like an actual burn mark. It's really simple, but really effective, even if it doesn't exactly mirror the content of the book.

9 comments:

I've only read one of her books so far, Identical, and I really loved it. Ellen's novels are very powerful and honest which is what I love about them so much. Great review and I look forward to reading this.

Read this book last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. Came across a response I had written and pulled it out this week to model for my 7th graders how to write their responses to their indepedent reading. After reading my response, they were all dying to read that book. Unfortuntately, my copy is long gone. Never know what happens to most of the books on my bookshelf - they just walk away. But, that was definitely a good one.

loved it! :)It had such powerful words and a great plot line. I read all of Ellen Hopkins books and I truely enjoyed this one as well as the other. Ellen Hopkins is my favourite aurthor. After all the books I've read she seems to have the best books. They all have unique ways of telling a great story <3

loved it! :)It had such powerful words and a great plot line. I read all of Ellen Hopkins books and I truely enjoyed this one as well as the other. Ellen Hopkins is my favourite aurthor. After all the books I've read she seems to have the best books. They all have unique ways of telling a great story <3

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Formerly a YA book blog, TheCompulsiveReader.com is now the personal bookish blog of YA writer Tirzah Price! For more frequent dispatches about books, writing, and general nonsense, check out Book Riot, head over to Twitter or follow TirzahPrice on Litsy!